Divers recover body from car in Beaver Lake SONORA (AP) — Authorities say one person was killed after a car drove off a roadway and into Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas. The Washington County Sheriff's Office says a fisherman saw a car drive off the bridge at about 10 p.m. Sunday. Authorities identified the victim as 24-year-old Lorianne Gillespie of Springdale. Officials were working to determine the cause of the wreck.

Mount Magazine to host butterfly fest PARIS (AP) — Mount Magazine State Park in western Arkansas is preparing to hold its annual Butterfly Festival. The park is home to the state's highest point and is a hotspot for viewing the colorful Diana Fritillary, which favors the wooded areas of the park. The festival is set for Friday and Saturday. The event features garden tours, a plant sale, crafts that patrons can make and take home and live birds of prey demonstrations. Also featured...

Arkansas group to commemorate Civil Rights Act LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Psychological Association will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act in a ceremony next month. The July 2 event at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center hopes to raise awareness of the impact of discrimination in the workplace on the groups named in the Civil Rights Act signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. A summary of the effect of workplace discrimination on disenfranchised groups will ...

Arkansas Municipal League gears up for conference LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Municipal League is gearing up for its summer convention this week in Little Rock. The meeting will feature policy talks on issues affecting cities and towns, as well as speeches from gubernatorial candidates Asa Hutchinson and Mike Ross and candidates for other constitutional offices. Gov. Mike Beebe is also set to address the group. The convention will include workshops on multiple issues, including land use c...

Independence Co. OKs monitors for some inmates BATESVILLE (AP) — Leaders in Independence County are enacting new changes at the county jail in hopes of easing overcrowding and saving money. Sheriff Steve Jeffery says the county began using electronic monitoring bracelets Monday for some low-level offenders to free up space in the facility. Jeffery says the participating inmates will be required to pay the $9-a-day cost for the bracelets. The sheriff says the inmates will be required to sho...

Public meeting set on Buffalo River hog farm rule HARRISON (AP) — A public hearing is planned in Harrison on a proposed regulation that would ban large hog farms in the Buffalo River watershed. The meeting is set for Tuesday evening in Harrison. The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission is considering a new regulation that would ban farms with 750-plus hogs weighing 55 pounds or more and farms with 3,000 or more hogs weighing less than 55 pounds. The rule change was proposed by th...

2 jailed for defacing West Memphis police memorial WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say two women have been arrested for vandalizing the new Fallen Officers Memorial in West Memphis. According to police, the women allegedly etched words into the memorial while their children threw rocks at the wall. One of the women reportedly carved her own name into the memorial, which honors officers who died in the line of duty. Lacey Rose Friddle, 19, and Jessica May Lapradd, 25, were arrested Saturd...

Demolition looms for Aerospace Education Center LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The commission that oversees Little Rock's airport is to vote Tuesday whether to approve the demolition of the Aerospace Education Center, which has been closed since the start of 2011. The Arkansas Aviation Historical Society opened the center in 1995, having raised private funds. The center was a popular attraction with an IMAX theater — the only one in the state at the time — showing science and nature films, and an aviat...

Beebe calls for broadband access for schools LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Gov. Mike Beebe is calling for the Legislature to act to open access for schools to the state's broadband network. A spokesman for Beebe said Friday that the governor would be open to putting the measure on the call for a special session if the votes are there for passage. In 2011, legislators passed a bill that exempted K-12 schools from having access to the Arkansas Research Education Optical Network. A new report shows th...

Ross vows to protect Arkansas Medicaid expansion LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Mike Ross vowed Friday to protect the state's compromise Medicaid expansion, while Republican rival Asa Hutchinson said he believed data should drive the debate on the program next year. Speaking separately to a group of leaders from the Mississippi River Valley Delta, the two candidates addressed the future of the state's "private option" two days after a lawmaker who helped craft the progra...

State OKs $2 million for new Jonesboro plant JONESBORO (AP) — The Arkansas Economic Development Commission is providing $2 million for a new company to locate in a former wind turbine plant in Jonesboro. The commission said Thursday that the money will help TrinityRail Maintenance Services Inc. convert the now-closed Nordex USA wind turbine plant for its processes. TrinityRail plans to spend $35 million to outfit and expand the facility. Nordex opened in 2010 with the prospect of employi...

SAU approves bond sale for University Village MAGNOLIA (AP) — The Southern Arkansas University Board of Trustees has approved a $10 million bond sale that's expected to save the university more than $100,000 annually over the next 20 years. The bond issue will close by June 30 and will give SAU the capability to pay off a 2003 bond issue, making the university the sole owner of the SAU University Village Apartments. Covenant Group originally financed the facilities and had been leasing th...

5 former Alamo properties put up for auction TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Five properties formerly owned by Tony Alamo have been auctioned off to partially satisfy a civil judgment against the imprisoned evangelist. About 40 people attended the public sale Thursday on the steps of the Miller County Courthouse. The Texarkana Gazette reported the sale included four properties in Fouke: Alamo's personal residence, church, gymnasium and another property. A fifth property in Texarkana was also sold...

Rogers police raising funds to buy Christmas gifts ROGERS (AP) — The Rogers Fraternal Order of Police has started raising money for its annual "Shop with a Cop" program that distributes toys to needy kids at Christmastime. The FOP is working with a telemarketer that will be calling local businesses and residents for about the next two months soliciting donations for the charity. The program helps provide gifts for children from low-income homes. Each child is paired with a police officer to bu...

University of Arkansas names Bodenhamer Fellows FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — The University of Arkansas Honors College is awarding Bodenhamer Fellowships to six top incoming freshmen. The $70,000 fellowship, one of the most prestigious undergraduate awards the university offers, provides financial support and aims to foster a sense of community among current and alumni fellows. The 2014 fellows are James "Jay" Hudson from Lake Hamilton High School; Stephen Komar from Park Hill South High School in R...

Cotton defends vote against Delta agency LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Republican Senate hopeful Tom Cotton on Thursday defended his vote to abolish a federal agency formed to assist the Mississippi River Delta, telling leaders from the region that taxpayers aren't getting a good return from the spending. The freshman congressman said he believes Arkansans aren't getting enough in exchange for the federal money that goes toward regional commissions such as the Delta Regional Authority....

Beebe optimistic for 'private option' in 2015 LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Gov. Mike Beebe said Thursday he remains cautiously optimistic that Arkansas will keep its compromise Medicaid expansion alive next year despite the defeat of a legislator who helped design the program. Beebe, a Democrat serving his final year in office, told the Delta Grassroots Caucus that reauthorizing the "private option" will always be a tough fight, given the three-fourths votes needed in the Arkansas House and Senate ...

Board votes to hire Wood as education commissioner LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Board of Education has voted to hire Tony Wood as the new top official overseeing the state's public schools. The board on Thursday unanimously approved Wood as the new Education Commissioner, replacing Tom Kimbrell as the department's top official. Gov. Mike Beebe in May recommended Wood, currently the department's deputy commissioner, as the new chief. Wood will assume his new role July 1, the same day Kimbrel...

6 defendants sentenced in NW Arkansas drug case FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Six defendants in a northwest Arkansas drug-trafficking case have been sentenced to federal prison. U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge said Thursday that the defendants were charged in a seven-count indictment handed up in July. A 27-year-old Mexican national, Ivan Jiminez, was sentenced to 24 years, 4 months, in prison for allegedly arranging the delivery of two pounds of methamphetamine. He was convicted of one count of conspi...

Ross proposes review of state regulations LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike Ross on Thursday proposed reviewing all Arkansas rules and regulations that have been on the books for more than three years to see whether they should be revised or eliminated. Ross made the proposal as part of a 46-page "jobs plan" he unveiled with fellow Democrat John Burkhalter, who is running for lieutenant governor. Ross faces fellow ex-congressman Asa Hutchinson, the GOP's nominee...